Monday, April 18, 2016

Security In Iraq Apr 8-14, 2016

Violence remained high in Iraq during the second week of
April 2016. That was due to two causes. First, the Iraqi forces continued their
march through Anbar, with two lesser operations in Kirkuk and Ninewa. At the
same time, the Islamic State appears to be launching a mini-spring offensive.
It is nowhere near as large as its previous ones, but there are more attacks
than usual.

There were 141 incidents from April 8-14, 2016 in Iraq. That
was just the same as the previous week when there were 144. Baghdad was the
most violent province as usual with 64 incidents, followed by 19 in Ninewa, 17
in Kirkuk, 14 in Anbar, 12 in Salahaddin, 9 in Diyala, 3 in Babil, 2 in Basra,
and 1 in Dhi Qar.

Those led to 271 dead and 391 wounded. There were 1 Nujafi
volunteers, 2 Peshmerga, 2 Sahwa, 22 Hashd, 79 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and
165 civilians who died, and 2 Sahwa, 11 Peshmerga, 20 Volunteers, 32 ISF, 95
Hashd, and 231 civilians who were injured. Ninewa was the deadliest governorate
with 91 fatalities. There were also 79 in Baghdad, 50 in Anbar, 33 in Kirkuk, 9
in Diyala, 7 in Salahaddin, and 1 each in Babil and Basra.

The Iraqi forces finally took Hit in western Anbar. At the
start of the week 85%
of the area had been cleared. By the end of the week it was taken.
Freeing the town helps secure the road heading westward from Ramadi to Ain
Assad base and Haditha.

The question then arises of where the Iraqi forces will head
next. There appears to be no consensus as there is no unity of command in
Anbar. The Hashd and ISF are still acting on their own initiatives. The Hashd
started a new sweep through Subhait,
the seventh since July, and announced a new operation against Garma,
which they still have not been able to take after trying for two years. The
approaches to southern Fallujah
were also said to be secured, but those operations have never proven successful
since the city was surrounded at the start of 2014. At the same time troops
were being sent to Rutba,
which is in the west heading towards the Syrian border. It’s likely that all of
these operations will continue simultaneously as the cooperation between the
different forces has not improved.

The Islamic State responded with 9 attacks in Anbar. The
largest occurred in Albu Bali, Amiriya Fallujah, Hit and Subhait with infantry
attacks and car bombings. A suicide car bomb got through the defenses in Albu Bali
and killed 12 soldiers and wounded 2 more.

Finally, an air strike on Fallujah was blamed for
killing 10 civilians and wounding 25 more. That could have been American or
Iraqi.

Baghdad remained the focal point of the Islamic State. There
were 64 incidents there that killed 79 and wounded 213. The south as usual had
the most insurgent violence with 24 attacks including 1 grenade, 1 sticky bomb,
1 mortar, 5 shootings, and 16 IEDs. A suicide bomber was arrested in the
center, and there was 1 major robbery, 4 kidnappings, and 7 bodies dumped.

Violence in Baghdad, Apr 8-14, 2016

Center: 5 – 1 Suicide Bomber
Arrested, 1 Kidnapping, 3 IEDs

East: 8 – 1 Shooting/Robbery,
2 Shootings, 2 IEDs, 3 Sticky Bombs

Outer East: 2 – 1 Sticky
Bomb, 1 IED

North: 6 – 1 Kidnapping, 1
Mortar, 2 Shootings, 2 IEDs

Outer North: 8 – 1 Sticky
Bomb, 1 Shooting, 6 IEDs

South: 10 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 3
Shootings, 6 IEDs

Outer South: 14 – 1 Grenade,
1 Mortar, 2 Shootings, 10 IEDs

West: 7 – 1 Shootings, 2
Sticky Bombs, 4 IEDs

Outer West: 2 – 1 Mortar, 1
IED

Unknown: 3 – 1 Newspaper
raided, 2 Kidnappings

In Basra there continued to be political violence. There
were attacks on a customs
house, a South Oil Company officer was shot
and killed in his house, and a sound bomb went off on an
employee of the Deputy governor.

The previous week there was a suicide bombing in Dhi Qar.
The second week of April another suicide bomber was arrested
in Nasiriyah before he could carry out an attack. That showed IS is reaching
out to new targets during its offensive.

Violence has picked back up in Kirkuk. There were 17
incidents during the week. IS attacked Kurdish positions five times. There was
also a heavy firefight with the Hashd led forces during the Bashir
operation that killed 19 police and Hashd and wounded 90. The second phase of
the Bashir sweep was announced on April
9, but then it was called off due to bad weather. For a few weeks there was
only one attack per week in the province, but now things have returned to
normal in part in response to the Hashd offensive.

The ISF Makhmour campaign in Ninewa went so badly that it
was postponed on April
5. The two Iraqi units carrying out the operation were novices, and quickly
bogged down due to bad weather and heavy resistance by the IS. The militants
launched a series of car bomb and suicide attacks to drive back the ISF, but
they were turned back.

There was also an attack upon the Kurdish positions in Gwar,
and a mortar attack on the Zilcan
camp where volunteers for ex-Governor Nujafi are being trained by Turkish
troops that killed 1 and wounded 20.

IS executed 35 people in Mosul. A mass
grave was also discovered with the bodies of 40 ISF members in it who had
been executed by the Islamic State.

There were 12 incidents in Salahaddin. The number wasn’t
important, but the locations were. There were attacks outside of Tikrit, and in
the Baiji district showing that IS had moved back into those areas. It’s gotten
to the point that there are clashes and bombings in those areas a couple times
a week.

There was only one successful car bombing during the week,
which occurred in Anbar. The Iraqi forces claimed they destroyed 17 more in
Anbar, 13 in Ninewa, and 3 each in Kirkuk and Salahaddin. Those figures are
unreliable as the ISF and Hashd regularly exaggerate how many they are able to
blow up and defeat.

Violence
In Iraq 2015-16

Date

Incidents

Dead

Wounded

JAN

911

2,656

3,032 + 150

FEB

730

2,345

2,366

MAR

820

2,665

2,529

APR

751

2,753

2,621

MAY

674

2,565 + 1,499

1,952 + 646

JUN

708

2,153 + 405

2,174

JUL

688

2,716

3,198 + 4,024

AUG

684

2,440 + 760

1,777

SEP

649

1,731

1,668 + 3,003

OCT

589

1,144

1,555

NOV

530

1,174

1,455 + 124 + 1,322

DEC

553

1,155

1,252 + 5,920

Jan 1-7

150

808

421

Jan 8-14

140

436

417

Jan 15-21

135

275

227

Jan 22-28

132

392

322

Jan 29-31

41

81

334

JAN

598

2,052

1,721

Feb 1-7

146

575

313

Feb 8-14

119

146

323

Feb 15-21

130

225

239

Feb 22-29

153

371

690

FEB

549

1,281

1,566

Mar 1-7

183

321

478

Mar 8-14

168

408

415

Mar 15-21

130

349

409

Mar 22-28

135

213

420

Mar 29-31

49

172

121

MAR

665

1,463

1,843

Apr 1-7

144

239

444

Apr 8-14

141

271

391

Security By Province Apr 8-14, 2016

Province

Incidents

Anbar

14 Incidents

50 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 16 Civilians, 33 ISF

45 Wounded: 7 ISF, 38 Civilians

5 Shootings

4 IEDs

1 Suicide Bomber

1 Suicide Car Bomb

1 Mortar

7 Suicide Bombers Killed

1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed

16 Car Bombs Destroyed

Babil

3 Incidents

1 Killed: 1 Civilian

1 Wounded: 1 Civilian

1 Shooting

1 IED

Baghdad

64 Incidents

79 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 2 Hashd, 5 ISF, 71 Civilians

213 Wounded: 2 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 24 ISF, 183 Civilians

12 Shootings

35 IEDs

8 Sticky Bombs

3 Mortars

1 Grenade

1 Suicide Bomber Arrested

Basra

2 Incidents

1 Killed: 1 Civilian

1 Shooting

1 IED

1 Sound Bomb

Dhi Qar

1 Incident

1 Suicide Bomber Arrested

Diyala

9 Incidents

9 Killed: 9 Civilians

11 Wounded: 2 Hashd, 9 Civilians

3 Gunfire

5 IEDs

1 Suicide Bomber Killed

Kirkuk

17 Incidents

33 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Peshmerga, 12 Civilians, 19 Hashd

99 Wounded: 1 ISF, 9 Peshmerga, 89 Hashd

7 Shootings

3 IEDs

1 Suicide Bomber

2 Rockets

2 Mortars

6 Suicide Bombers Killed

3 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed

Ninewa

19 Incidents

91 Killed: 1 Volunteer, 1 Peshmerga, 40 ISF, 49 Civilians

22 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga, 20 Volunteers

5 Shootings

17 IEDs

2 Mortars

13 Suicide Bombers Killed

8 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed

3 Car Bombs Destroyed

Salahaddin

12 Incidents

7 Killed: 1 Hashd, 6 Civilians

8 Shooting

1 IED

13 Suicide Bombers Killed

2 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed

1 Car Bomb Destroyed

Car
Bombs In Iraq Apr, 2016

Date

Car Bombs

Dead

Wounded

Apr 1

Hit,
Anbar

Apr 2

Hit, Anbar – 3 destroyed

Apr 3

Apr 4

Baghdadi
x2, Anbar

Meshada
& Taji, Baghdad

Basra,
Basra

Baghdadi,
Rashad, Shihabi, Subhait, Anbar –
21 destroyed

Abu Ghraib, Baghdad – 2 destroyed

Nasir, Ninewa – 6 destroyed

Siniya, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed

16

35

Apr 5

New
Baghdad, Baghdad

Baghdadi &
Subhait, Anbar – 9 destroyed

Tal Ahmed, Kirkuk – 1 destroyed Makhmou, Nasir, Ninewa – 13 destroyed

3

14

Apr 6

Kubaisa, Anbar – 3 destroyed

Nasir, Ninewa – 7 destroyed

Apr 7

160 Kilo,
Garma, Hit, Anbar – 7 destroyed

Tal Ahmed, Kirkuk – 3 Destroyed

Hardan, Ninewa – 2 destroyed

Shirqat-Baiji
Road, Salahaddin – 2 destroyed

Totals

7 – 81 Destroyed

19

49

Apr 8

Hit, Anbar –
10 destroyed

Makhmour, Ninewa
– 7 destroyed

Apr 9

Albu
Bali, Anbar

Hit &
Subhait, Anbar – 6 destroyed

12

2

Apr 10

Bashir, Kirkuk
– 3 destroyed

Nasir, Ninewa
– 1 destroyed

Baiji,
Salahaddin – 2 destroyed

Apr 11

Apr 12

Hit, Anbar – 1
destroyed

Nasir, Ninewa
– 2 destroyed

Apr 13

Makhmour &
Nasir, Ninewa – 3 destroyed

Apr 14

Makhoul,
Salahaddin – 1 destroyed

Totals

1 – 36 Destroyed

12

2

SOURCES

AFP,
"Iraq says town of Heet retaken from IS after weeks of fighting,"
4/14/16

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the politics, economics, security, culture and history of Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com